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Chicago's deputy coroner Lawrence R. Buckley (1860-1933) went after
fire chief Musham with zeal at the coroner's inquest.
Buckley's parents were Irish immigrants and
throughout his life, he was active in Irish political
organizations in Chicago. In 1889 he became
ensnarled in a Clan-Na-Gael conspiracy. The
Clan was an organization of Irish nationalists.
In 1903, widowed since 1897
by the death of his wife, Winifred Jennings Buckley,
Lawrence lived with his mother, Joanna Courtney
Buckley (1830-1925), and two of his grown daughters,
Katie and Lottie, at 1107 West Adams St. in Chicago.
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The most glaring aspect of the coroner's inquest was the
finger-pointing. The fire and building departments blamed
each other, theater managers
blamed the theater fireman, the theater fireman
blamed his former employer, the ushers blamed the
theater manager, the theater manager blamed the
audience, the fire chief blamed the city
ordinances. In all that finger-pointing,
Lawrence Buckley picked out fire chief Musham as his
favorite target. Generally, in Chicago,
hunting fire chiefs was such a popular sport that Buckley could count on public approval.
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